The 10-year plan is estimated to need about £70bn. Of this £33.5bn comes from the government and £34bn-40bn from the private sector.

This figure contains an extra £4.5bn on top of what Labour planned to spend in its previous 10-year transport plan.

With the demise of Railtrack and the general tendency of infrastructure projects to run over budget the government may have a job on its hands persuading private investors to take a gamble on the railways' future.
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